The BLM’s Uncompahgre Field Office expects to release a draft Resource Management Plan (RMP), including the Wild and Scenic Suitability, sometime between May and July 2015. We’ll keep you informed of the public comment process, so you can participate in shaping the final decision.

As background, in the spring of 2011, the BLM’s Southwest Resource Advisory Council submitted its Wild and Scenic Suitability River Recommendations for the San Miguel and Dolores Rivers and Tributaries. Thirteen of the original 21 eligible segments were recommended as suitable. We appreciate the efforts of all who participated in determining the future of the San Miguel River and those of you who wrote letters of support. Thank you!

BLM suitability is an administrative designation that does not apply to private land or water rights. In other words, it does not come with any water rights. A federal designation is a separate legislative process determined by Congress that could include water rights and additional protections. The current process is strictly a BLM administrative decision to determine if the “eligible” sections are “suitable,” which would direct the BLM to protect “outstanding or remarkable resource values” in the river and river corridor.

The BLM Uncompahgre Field Office (UFO) is also preparing an updated RMP and associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This includes the BLM lands surrounding the San Miguel River in San Miguel County and the majority of BLM lands in Western Montrose County. An RMP, similar to a county master plan, is a land use plan that describes broad multiple-use guidance for managing public lands administered by the BLM.